Under the Same Sky
by silver replies
Summary: Sakura had worked relentlessly to get to where she is now: a surgical intern at the prestigious Konoha General Hospital, but new challenges await her. Friendships and relationships bloom with promiscuous, callous and plain obnoxious roommates. Join the Konoha 12 as they grow and learn about life, love, and the importance of companionship. Some bonds cannot be broken.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Concerning the format of the story, each chapter will be from the perspective of a different character. It will alternate between different members of the Konoha 12. Also, this is set in the modern world, with respect to the map of the world for Naruto!verse. This chapter's a bit lengthy, but that's because I needed to find a way to introduce all of the characters; please, bear with me. Thank you and I hope you enjoy the chapter! (Please review, maybe). Also, kudos to anyone that gets the chapter title reference.

* * *

"All right, look if you absolutely have to tell her the truth, at least wait until the timing's right. And that's what deathbeds are for."

- Chandler, "Friends"

Chapter One

The Taste of Peanut Butter

* * *

_January 28, 2007_

Sakura sighs as she shuts the door, eyes trailing after their friendly, but exasperated, landlord. She runs a hand through her tangled hair, eventually pulling the locks up into a frizzy ponytail. Turning around, she places a hand on her hip. "Ino, we need to talk," she says, pursing her lips. The blonde snickers as she reaches into the candy dish and pops an almond into her mouth.

"Yes, my love?" Ino chimes, critically observing her nails.

"This is about the fifth time the landlord has had to come and personally collect the money _we don't have_ for this place. Hell, we have only even been living here for a little more than a year! I know, we have big dreams and all, but we can't afford to live like this together anymore."

Ino's derisive snort is met with an open glare from the woman standing across from her. "Are you leaving me for another woman, Sakura?" she mock-weeps in a heavy foreign accent, throwing her head back and fanning herself. "Am I ever going to see you again?" She smirks at her best friend's face, torn between outrage and amusement.

In a fleeting moment, Sakura regains her composition. She rolls her eyes at Ino's antics, she leans over to flick her friend's forehead. "Stop being dramatic, Pig! We'll still be living next door to each other, anyway."

The blonde pouts, blue eyes watery. "B-But what if these feelings never go away? What will happen to the life we've made together?" She pauses for dramatic effect. "What will we do to Leo?" she cries, throwing a look in the direction of the lazily lounging kitten on the living room sofa. "What will we do with all the furniture we've hunted and fought for?"

Sakura sighs. "I think it would be best if you took Leo, honestly. As for the furniture, we can put it in storage or sell some of it off. I've talked to Shikamaru and Naruto already. They're completely down for it."

"And Sasuke?" Sakura freezes visibly.

"What about him?" she half-barks at her best friend, blush spreading rapidly from her cheeks to the base of her neck.

"He's okay with this arrangement, too?"

"Well, I'm at the hospital most of the time anyway," Sakura replies evenly, "so I don't see any reason why he wouldn't be."

Ino snorts. "And when you bring your date home for a little late night escapade? You think he'll be okay with that?" This time, she sighs. "Do you think that _Naruto_ will even be okay with that?"

Sakura shakes her head. "I can do without casual sex, mind you," she says, shooting a pointed look at Ino. Ino raises a skeptical eyebrow at this. "And it's not like we can't go over to _his_ apartment," Sakura admits. "Honestly Ino, it'll work out fine."

Her friend's face melts into one of mild concern. "Will _you_ be okay living with him? Why don't you stay with Hinata-chan or Kiba-kun instead?"

"Hinata-chan's place is tiny, Ino, you know that! And she said that she'd refuse payment from me," the petite girl explains. "And Kiba's nice and all, but Shino? I don't think I'd feel comfortable living with a guy like that... no offense."

"I can live with Sasuke and Naruto," the blonde offers. "Just stay with Shikamaru and Chouji! It'd work out that way."

Sakura sighs again, and Ino notices that she's been doing that a lot lately - the sighing, the empty staring. She looks up at the picture of them from their high school graduation and wonders why Sakura can never seem to have her happy ending. "That wouldn't work out, Ino. Naruto's already expecting me. Plus, I don't think that you'd be able to put up with the messes he leaves," Sakura remarks. "I'll be okay. Like I said, I'm barely home anyway."

"Did you tell him today?" Ino blurts out, scrutinizing her best friend's body language.

The sad look that Sakura sends her is really more of an answer than she needs.

* * *

_September 2, 2008_

If Sakura were to be honest, she would admit that she _really, really_ likes Sasuke. She likes him in that cheesy, hopeless, pick-flower-petals-while-thinking-about-you way. But Sakura knows two things: the first being that this isn't high school and she doesn't have time to spiral into one of her own romantic tragedies, and the second being that even women have their urges and needs. So, Sakura goes on casual dates with nice men and has casual sex with them afterwards if they're nice enough. This is how Sakura finds herself at a table with former special patient, Sabaku Kankuro, for dinner on her only day off during the week. Kankuro is leaving for Suna the next day and Sakura probably will never see him again.

She is okay with this.

Sakura idly stirs her drink, flipping over ice cubes in her wake. Kankuro is telling her a story about his younger brother, Gaara, who is about her age. She finds herself more interested in Gaara than her date, but shrugs it off. Gaara is an introvert, secretive, and a tortured soul. Sakura sighs inwardly. Perhaps that was her _type_.

Kankuro stares at her expectantly after he finishes his prose. "So," she drawls, "tell me more about Suna. I've always wanted to visit, but with the hospital, I barely have time to take a day off, let alone a week."

"It's hot and dry, but the weather's bearable," he replies. "We have some great beaches and tourist sites, and according to my sister, Temari, we have great shopping, too. From the outskirts, you can just look up at night and see all of the stars."

She stops fiddling with her straw and pauses, looking at him. "I'll try to take some time off, maybe next summer. It sounds beautiful!"

"You're always welcome to stay with me," Kankuro offers. "No charge."

"Oh, I hardly think that would be fair," she insists. "I would at least pay you for the week's stay."

He throws her a solemn look. "You saved my life." Sakura realizes that this date had been out of gratitude, not physical attraction. She is vaguely relieved because despite her habit of having casual sex with nice men that have little to no meaning in her life, she believes that Kankuro is probably _too_ nice for that.

Sakura lets him walk her to her apartment door, aware that Ino and Tenten are probably spying on them from across the hallway. Naruto is probably helplessly typing away at his laptop, attempting to write the next chapter of his novella. He is distracted by the television and the warm, sinking feeling of the overstuffed red sofa he is seated on. Sakura knows that Sasuke is definitely at the kitchen table, which is completely covered in papers. He is tired, as Sasuke is always tired, and a little bitter. His jaw is clenched in silent determination. He works with numbers and analyzes trends in the market with the light from his laptop and the flickering ceiling light illuminating his view.

She redirects her attention from her roommates to her date. "Thank you for the dinner," Sakura says politely, already fumbling with her keys. She begins to unlock the door.

"Thank you for saving my life," he responds. He takes her right hand and kisses it when the door flies open, revealing an exuberant Naruto.

"Sakura-chan! You're back!" the blond interjects before catching sight of Kankuro. "Hey, you're that special case patient Sakura-chan was talking about! Come in, come in," he insists, already ushering the two into the somewhat crowded apartment.

"His name's Kankuro, Naruto," Sakura scolds before turning to the aforementioned man. "Kankuro-san, this is my noisy roommate, Naruto. Our other roommate is Sasuke," she elaborates.

"Nice to meet you," Kankuro tells Naruto cordially. "But I'm afraid I can't stay much longer."

"Do you still have to pack?" Sakura inquires, noting how Kankuro had tensed once he entered the apartment. She pities the man and understands his disccomfort.

"Yes, actually," he replies, relieved. "I have a flight back to Suna tomorrow in the morning," Kankuro clarifies for Naruto, almost apologetically. He turns around once again to face Sakura. "You have my number, feel free to call me if you ever decide to visit."

She nods, walking him towards the door. Sakura wraps her arms around his neck before standing on the tips of her toes to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you again for this evening," she repeats. He nods his head at her and exits the apartment.

Sasuke finally looks up from his paperwork, a detached look on his face. "You're home early," he dryly observes; the statement ultimately equating with _The date didn't go well. _Sakura has turned away from him by now, facing the opposite direction towards the television set with Naruto. She likes to imagine he says this with a vague air of contentment.

"It was more of a thank you than anything else," she amends, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. She draws patterns in the couch's faded coduroy, head drooping. Sakura yawns, finally letting her head fall to meet an arm of the sofa. She hears obnoxiously loud clicking to the right of her and grins - Naruto has hit a high point in his story.

"You have work tomorrow," Sasuke declares. This time, she looks up to meet his gaze. He almost looks concerned, she thinks, well, as concerned as Sasuke could possibly be about something other than his business statistics and the documents he has saved on his computer. He wants her to check in for the night, partially because he wants her to be well enough to take on another 36-hour shift at the hospital, but mostly so she won't pester him about going to sleep when it's three in the morning.

"I do," she concurs, laying her head back down. "I'll just sleep here tonight. You can take my room after you're done working, Sasuke-kun." He merely grunts in response.

When Sakura sits up in her bed the next morning to the sound of her alarm going off, she is pleasantly surprised.

She makes her way to the living room and sees Sasuke's graceful figure sprawled across the sofa, his hair in disarray. Holding back a giggle, she crosses the room, towel in hand, to the bathroom to take a shower.

Before she leaves, Sakura makes him breakfast - an omelette with sizable chunks of tomato and a side of garlic-fried rice. She prepares pancakes as an afterthought for her blond roommate, leaving a small stack on a green plate next to Sasuke's meal. It is her _goodbyeIloveyouseeyousoon__thankyou _to Sasuke and her _takecareofyourselfidiot_ to Naruto.

Sasuke only wakes up when she's halfway out the door and Naruto is oblivious, dead to the world until noon.

When she returns to her apartment during her lunch break, she finds a small paper bag that contains a plastic box along with several napkins. Inside, she finds impeccably made onigiri. Upon further inspection, she discovers that there is umeboshi in the middle.

This is him telling her that she is welcome.

* * *

_April 3, 2010_

Sakura has been a medical prodigy ever since she began coursework at Konoha University. She was handpicked to be placed in its accelerated medical program, which stressed individual study, enabling students to pace themselves and to complete the assigned coursework at whatever rate they desired.

Thus, Sakura combined her natural talent and hardwork (though it took many gruelling allnighters and breaks in total isolation) in order to complete the five year program, which encompassed both medical and pre-medical training, a year early. In other words, Sakura was able to complete what usually takes people eight years of supplementary schoolwork to step foot in the OR in half the time necessary. She began her internship at Konoha General when she was merely 23.

The hospital is the place where Sakura lives. She eats, sleeps, and even showers at the hospital. She saves and also loses lives at the hospital. The OR is Sakura's favorite place to be, whether she's merely examining a surgery or is the one performing it. Her second favorite place to be in the hospital's library, where she spends the majority of her time prepping for said surgeries. Her least favorite place is anywhere that they assign her to when she's on scut duty, but even scut duty gives her a sense of responsibility and at times, importance.

In short, the hospital is Sakura's favorite go-to spot, however sad that may be to Ino. In fact, tonight she has a date there. She mentions this to Naruto casually when she tells him that's she's going to be late tonight. ("What, are you dating a patient?" he sputtered in disbelief when she told him.

"Of course not, that would be highly unprofessional, Naruto. I would never date a patient," she assured him.)

Tonight, Sakura is going to spend her time in the company of an artist. More specifically, a special amnesia case currently residing in 314B. It's rather tragic; a man with neither family nor friends to visit him each day or check up on him. He is alone. He claims that he doesn't even remember his own name.

Danzou, the medical consultant for the case, calls him Sai. He appears to have taken to it.

Sai does, however, remember his inclination towards art. When the doctors give him paper and a pen, he is able to make a masterpiece. He has requested Sakura's company specifically to discuss possible non-invasive options for regaining his memory and also to better understand the complications concerning the procedure he is scheduled to undertake next month.

This is what she tells Danzou, at least.

Sai has actually requested her company because "despite the unnatural color of [her] hair and the broadness of [her] forehead, [her] appearance is remiscent of what the embodiment of spring should look like."

Sakura is a sucker for the wax poetic type, you see.

She enters 314B at approximately eleven o'clock, still fresh from her latest (successful) surgery. "Hello," she greets, skimming the information in the white binder on the table adjacent to him, reading his charts. "How was your day?"

Sai ignores her question fully, instead opting to smile at her warmly. "The books the doctors have given me concerning proper etiquette suggest that typically, the man treats the woman to a meal on their first date," he replies. "You will find a plate of food located to the left of the binder you were just observing."

Sakura is mildly shocked at his very direct response, but accepts the tray regardless. She wrinkles her nose in distaste as she examines her food (which, of course, is hospital food) and decides to enjoy the safe, but mildly refreshing fruit cup that her meal comes with. "Thank you," she tells him as she places the tray back on the table.

"I am confused," he responds, blinking at her. "It is rather obvious that you did not enjoy your meal, yet you express gratitude to the one who gave you it. Is this a common pleasantry? Do people normally speak contrary to what they believe or feel?"

She is taken aback by this, shaking her head. "When a person er, presents an item to another person, it is customary to express one's gratitude," she replies carefully.

They spend the night like this, discussing the formalities of modern society - of what is acceptable, and what is not. Sai's sketchbook opens once, but it is only to show her his most recent work, which is a hawk about to take flight. "I never had the intention of drawing you tonight," he explains to her as she gets up to leave the room. "The sunlight does more justice to the green of your eyes. The book merely instructed me that it is proper to compliment a woman before asking her out on a date."

Sakura stares at Sai's pale face and his plastered on smile and his empty eyes. He is courting her out of an instructions manual, following each rule precisely and mundanely. His dark hair is messy from sleep and sticks up at the back, different from his normal, neatly combed haircut.

"Thank you," he tells her as she's making her way out the door, his voice just above a whisper.

Sakura straightens her back and presses her lips into a firm, straight line. Then, she turns around, mumbles a flimsy, "You're welcome," and leaves. Her steady walk breaks into a run, until she's outside of the hospital, choking on fresh air. Sakura fumbles blindly in the darkness of night, vision blurry. She finds a bench to settle herself on and buries her face in her hands.

He reminds her of Sasuke.

* * *

_November 11, 2007_

It is a windy Sunday evening in November when Sakura's parents come to visit. Sakura is up the wall, yelling at Naruto to tackle the landslide that is his bedroom; Sasuke is at the kitchen table as usual, brooding. She has half a mind to yell at him, too, but she's too busy vacuuming and she has a casserole in the oven she has to check up on in about ten minutes.

Plus, the sound of the vacuum muffles Naruto's girlish screams as he finds that he, in fact, has been living with _more than two_ roommates.

While cleaning the sofa, Sakura finds Naruto's old writing journal, the missing piece to her favorite pair of earrings, seven dollars in change, a piece of gum, and a neon-colored condom. At first, she blinks in disbelief at contraceptive. She holds it up at eye level, as if expecting it to explode. She inhales, exhales. Sakura takes a deep breath before screaming, "Naruto!" in her most threatening voice. "Sasuke-kun!" she adds in hesitation, but just as hostile.

The two are at the couch in an instant. She dangles the package in front of both of them slowly, a sinister look on her face. "Hello, boys," she says in a level voice, but the two of them know better.

She is a volcano ready to explode.

Naruto and Sasuke gulp as Sakura wields her weapon of choice: a large, wooden spoon that she uses when she prepares salad on Friday nights.

"Now tell me, are either of you prostitutes?" The sudden, almost ridiculous question causes Naruto to burst out in laughter and almost causes Sasuke to smirk. Naruto's laughter is met with Sakura's heavy gaze. He shudders nervously, beads of sweat beginning to form on his head. Unable to formulate a sentence, he shakes his head rapidly back and forth. Sasuke mimicks his actions, but in a more controlled manner.

"Are either of you under the conviction that our apartment is something akin to a brothel?" They both shake their heads anxiously. "Then would either of you care to explain why I found this," she says, throwing the condom in Naruto's face, "while I was cleaning my sofa today?" When both of them remain silent, Sakura simply stares at them, twirling the spoon dangerously in her right hand.

After a moment, she sighs. "I guess I have to punish both of you, then," Sakura whines. She zeroes in on Sasuke first, holding to look for even the slightest flaw in his composure. He is wearing no visible expression, not even bothering to look at her. Using this to her advantage, she stands on the tips of her toes in order to put them at a close, uncomfortable distance. Sasuke has never been fond of anyone's touch - this is his Achilles' heel.

"Do not touch me," he orders, maintaining his poker face.

She inches her face closer and their noses bump. "Hi." She grins. "How's your girlfriend, Sasuke-kun? It's rather rude of you to hide her from me and Naruto, you know."

"I don't have a girlfriend," Sasuke deadpans, despite the tips of his ears reddening slowly. Innocently whistling, Naruto not-so-conspicuously shoves Sasuke so that he practically falls on top of the petite girl. He catches himself last minute, wishing death upon his blond roommate.

"Oh, really? I never took you to be one for casual sex," Sakura replies coyly, bring her arms up to wrap him in a warm, suffocating hug. Literally suffocating, not figuratively. Sakura was on a competitive rugby team when she was younger. She knows the meaning of tough love.

His demeanor cracks a bit as he snorts derisively at her. "I'm not you," he snaps. She lifts her head up to look him in the eye, scrutinizing him. Sakura promptly drops her arms and steps backwards.

"Thanks, Sasuke-kun! Now I definitely know it's Naruto," Sakura says brightly, winking at him. Naruto brings his hand to his face in disbelief. "If it was Hinata-chan, I'll let it slide for now, on the premise that you will do this business in her apartment now," she says sympathetically. "And not on the couch, really?"

Naruto grins sheepishly. "Heh, yeah, it was her," he replies, half-embarrassed, half-proud. "Sorry, uh - we just couldn't wait, you know?" Sakura wrinkles her nose and pretends to gag as she covets her spray-bottle of Lysol. She sprays and disinfects for the next few hours, only pausing to check on the casserole, which comes out perfectly. Sasuke remains brooding, so Sakura tells him to set the table _with the good china, please_.

By the time Haruno Mebuki and Haruno Kizashi arrive at Sakura's apartment door, Sakura has successfully finished making creamy rice with mussels and shrimp on the side, her mother's favorite casserole, and her father's favorite soup. Her bread pudding is still in the oven, but it will be ready by the time they are finished with the main course, so she is content. The table is set perfectly, cloth napkins folded into neat triangles, courtesy of Sasuke. Naruto's room is as clean as it will ever be, and though this pleases Sakura, she also makes a mental note to avoid showing that room to her parents at all costs. And despite everything being picturesque, Sakura is nervous. She is torn between crying and laughing, almost delirious.

Living with two men? God, what will her mother think?

She takes a seat next to Sasuke at the kitchen table and joins him in his brooding. Naruto looks at them, bemused, but shrugs it off.

Sakura gets up from her seat to open the door approximately three minutes later. She slowly walks the ten foot distance and turns the knob at an equal pace. Haruno Mebuki strides in with her husband at hand. Sakura wastes no time in throwing her arms around her father's neck. "Hi, daddy!" she exclaims, pecking him on the cheek. More hesitantly, she approaches her mother, kiss her on each cheek before immediately pulling away. "Mother," she supplies sweetly, nodding her head. Naruto and Sasuke watch this exchange from the kitchen table before the latter pulls the former up. They make their way to the family of three at the doorway.

"Hey," Naruto breaks in, "I'm Uzumaki Naruto." He stretches out his hand to Kizashi and the older man accepts before curiously directing his glance at the dark-haired man standing next to him.

Sasuke offers his hand as well, giving Kizashi a firm handshake. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke," he says. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Haruno-san."

The man kindly smiles at him. "Likewise, Uchiha-san."

Sakura notices that her mother's eyes are now set on the two young men, watching them in unrestrained interest. Mebuki then throws an almost accusatory glance at her daughter, thin lips pressed into a frown. "They're my roommates," Sakura explains, leading them to the kitchen table.

"I thought you were living with Ino-chan," her father remarks, also frowning. Sakura begins to sweat as she distributes ample servings of rice to each person at the table.

"C-Complications," she sputters. "We thought it would be best to move in with other people because we didn't have the money to pay the rent several times."

"Oh," her mother coos at the mention of the outgoing blonde, "how _is_ Ino-chan? Doing well, I assume." Sakura's expression darkens.

They eat in silence for a while and Sakura fills up their bowls with the soup before also giving out slices of the casserole.

"She's still looking for a job," Naruto contributes, "in the downtown fashion district. She runs this website where she sells some of her creations, though. Apparently they run really high on the market."

"See, Sakura?" her mother asks, almost smugly. "Even small businesses like Ino-chan's are rather profitable during times like these. You should have went into business with her. Ino could have done all of the designing and you could have done all the calculations - you were always rather good at math, weren't you?"

The petite woman rolls her eyes. "I was decent at math, better than most," she admits grudgingly, "but it was still my weakest subject. Plus, medicine's a much more stable field and I have a knack for it. Ino's been job-hunting for months."

"You have to learn how to take risks," her mother lectures. "You won't go anywhere in life if you don't, Sakura."

At this, Hizashi lets out an awkward, dry cough. He smiles apologetically at his daughter and wipes his mouth. "The food is amazing, Sakura-chan," he comments before resuming his meal. When she thanks her father later, it isn't just for the compliment.

Sakura ends the night with the sinking feeling that she will never be free from her mother's ever-present disappointment with her.

But things are not so bad, she thinks; because Sasuke has offered to wash the dishes tonight and Naruto is now watching her favorite romantic comedy with her on the couch. Later, Sasuke squeezes in between them with a carton of Sakura's favorite ice-cream and two spoons. They eat mint chocolate chip right out of the container while Sakura grossly sobs at the screen when the couple predictably gets married at the end. And when the movie is over and Naruto checks in for the night, she can sit quietly at the kitchen table with Sasuke and his papers and his big dream and finally unwind.

Things are not so bad, she thinks, because she has them, and they are enough.

* * *

_November 17, 2005_

Sakura had been spending so much time at the hospital that she didn't realize the urgency to do her laundry until she was searching through her underwear drawer to be met with the sight of one lacy, black thong that she usually reserves for _special_ dinner dates.

That is why she is currently sitting uncomfortably in said thong and her scrubs from last night in the terribly lit laundry room of her apartment complex. It is approximately five in the morning and she has to get ready for work in one and a half hours, a day that she considers to be a late start. Sakura is the only person occupying the room and enjoys the soothing silence which is only interrupted by the gentle whirring sound of her machine.

She closes her eyes and imagines that she is in the OR, scalpel in hand, working on something relatively simple - an appendectomy. Sakura is cool and calculating in the OR, so different from her normal neurotic self. Suddenly, she hears rapid beeping - "Blood pressure's down!" says one of the scrub nurses; "We're losing him!" another screams. While the nurses begin blotting the blood, Sakura focuses on sewing him up as soon as she can. She does not think about the error she could have possibly made in this simple surgery, because in the OR a surgeon's pride is the last thing that matters. The survival rate for the surgery is about 92% and she refuses to let this man become a part of the unforunate minority.

A wave of relief washes over her as the beeping slows, her patient stabilizing; but the moment is fleeting as his heart rate steadily begins to decline. "I am going to open the thoracic cavity and massage his heart in order to promote contractions," she explains to the nurses, hastily using a scalpel to make the incision. She carefully inserts her hand into the cavity and locates the cardiac muscle. She begins to massage the heart before -

"Bastard, why d'you have to drag me here every time you do your laundry?" a noisy voice complains, bringing Sakura out of her reverie. "And why do you always insist on waking up so early to wash your clothes? Nobody does their laundry at this time of day."

"That's the point, idiot," a new voice replies snidely. Sakura's head snaps up, green eyes searching for her unwelcome guests. She finds a blond man looking frazzled, carrying a messy heap of dirty clothes. He looks like he's about to fall over from sleep deprivation - something Sakura picks up on and almost laughs at. Sleep deprivation is comparable to air for a surgical intern. She reaches the conclusion that he's cute in that kind of puppy dog way, even if he does have a stupid face.

Her eyes lazily travel to meet his companion. He is a dark-haired, skinny man; unlike the blond, he seems more quiet and reserved, though she can tell by the tone of voice he used with his friend that he is far from the sweet, sensitive book type. She watches his back as he hurriedly places the clothes in the machine, apparently in a rush - for what, she doesn't know. When he turns around and Sakura finally gets a glimpse of his face, she blinks and silently proclaims him a sex god.

And then she notices that he is returning her stare with blatant annoyance.

"Oh, hey! Look, intelligent life!" the blond exclaims, gesturing to the place she is sitting in. Sakura feels herself turn three different shades of red before groaning to herself, becoming more aware of her wrinkled scrubs and her overall disheveled appearance. "A nurse?" the blond asks, sauntering over to her with his hand reached out. "I'm Naruto!"

She accepts his hand and manages a small smile. "Surgical intern, actually," she replies, masking the offense she had taken from his question. "Nice to meet you, Naruto. I'm Sakura."

Naruto gives a low whistle in response to her profession. "Surgeon, huh?" he grins, shaking his head. "You're really something then. Likewise, Sakura-chan." He smiles brightly at her for a while before taking a seat next to her. "So where do you live, Sakura-chan?"

She arches her eyebrows in disbelief. "Excuse me?" she replies, startled at his extremely direct attempt at her.

"I haven't seen you around the building before," he clarifies. "I usually make a point in knowing most of the residents." She sighs softly.

"Second floor," Sakura tells him, not wanting to give him her exact room number. "Just moved in about a month ago with my friend, Ino." Naruto scratches the back of his head sheepishly, deep in thought.

"Hey," he says suddenly, "would you by any chance know Shikamaru and Chouji?" Before he waiting for her reply, he turns to shout at the dark-haired man, now occupying a distant corner of the laundry room. "Sasuke, get your ass over here and stop being antisocial!" Sasuke glowers at Naruto a bit before slowly moving to meet his request. Sakura makes a point to _not_ stare and decides at the floor tiles are infinitely more interesting than the previously proclaimed sex god approaching her.

"Yeah, I do," she says, still looking down. "I've known them since we were kids; they were actually the ones that told us about this place."

"So you and your friend _are _the girls they always talk about!" Naruto crows. "The troublesome ones," he continues. Sakura frowns. "Oh," he says, realizing his slip up. "I mean, you're not the troublesome one - what's her name again? The blonde one, right?"

"Ino," Sakura supplies offhandedly, the black and white checkered tiles now becoming a chessboard in her mind.

"Ino is," he finishes. She looks up at him for a minute before going back to her game. She moves her knight from C5 to B7, efficiently checking her opponent's king. The opponent moves to his left in order to salvage his king, but ultimately ends up losing his castle.

"What did you call me here for, idiot?" Sasuke seeths, irritably rolling his eyes at his counterpart.

Sakura concludes that he is a sex god diva, which is very common among men nowadays. She also concludes that he is probably gay. She then decides that she hates her life a little bit more than she did before. "To make friendly conversation with a new neighbor," Naruto says suggestively, winking at Sasuke. He nudges him. "Mind helping a guy out a bit?" the blond stage-whispers.

Okay, and she concludes that Naruto is probably not his boyfriend.

Sasuke rolls his eyes again, this time crossing his arms for emphasis. Internally, Sakura mirrors his actions. _Aren't you fabulous? _she jibes mentally. "We are here to do laundry, not hit on random girls," the sex god diva reprimands. He turns to her and she tries not to squirm. "Do you intend on having sex with him after the third date?" he asks her bluntly. She shakes her head. Sex god diva turns back to Naruto and throws him a satisfied smirk. "There's your answer," Sasuke affirms.

Naruto chuckles awkwardly and a pregnant silence settles in between the three. In a fluid motion, Sakura stands up to check her laundry.

"Where are you going?" Naruto calls after her. She doesn't reply, more intent on _getting the hell out of here_. She throws her now-dry clothes into the plastic bin, glancing at the clock and realizing that she has to be at work in less than an hour. Sakura curses, increasing her pace.

As she is about to run through the door, she turns on her left heel, pivoting to face the clearly disappointed blond. "Uh, I have work in forty minutes," she says, "really sorry I can't stay, but yeah. See you around!" The woman flies up two flights of stairs, deposits her clothing at the apartment, takes a shower and brushes her teeth in a total of six minutes, and thankfully arrives early at the hospital for rounds.

Today, much to her chagrin, Sakura shadows a surgeon who is performing a simple appendectomy.

* * *

_December 10, 2005_

Sakura knocks impatiently on her apartment door, fingers numb from the biting cold of the blizzard. She has recently completed another 48-hour shift today that consisted of mostly scut duty - filing papers, running labs, and _patient care. _She shudders at the thought of it. When the door swings open, the only thought on Sakura's mind is preparing herself a hot cup of tea and curling up in her warm, neglected bed with her favorite vanilla romance novel.

Instead, she is greeted by the sight of a drunken Ino jumping up and down excitedly on the living room table, which so happens to be one of her mother's old pieces. Involuntarily, her left eye twitches. "Baby, you made it!"the blonde girl hollers, exaggeratedly waving her left hand at Sakura, which is currently carrying a bottle of tequila.

Shaking with barely contained rage, she turns to Shikamaru, who is trying to do his best at avoiding her gaze. "I refuse to spend my day off cleaning up vomit and accommodating to her needs," Sakura sternly tells him, stiffly smiling at him. "Understood?" Ino is already scampering clumsily over to Sakura, alcohol still in hand. She drapes herself on the newcomer and giggles before promptly undoing the buttons on her friend's coat.

Sakura's eyes widen. "Whoa there," she says, pushing the blonde back until she is at a comfortable distance. "Take her for a second, then _explain_ whatever the hell is happening here, thanks." Sakura completes the task at hand, taking off her boots as well before hanging the jacket in the closet and lining her shoes up neatly against the closet wall. Running a hand through her messy hair in agitation, she conveniently ignores the people in her living room to regroup with Shikamaru, Ino, and Chouji in the kitchenette. She glares anticipatingly at the both brunets.

"What's happening here," Shikamaru begins slowly, sizing her up, "is your apartment warming party."

Sakura clicks her tongue in disbelief. "That's supposed to be on Saturday, isn't it?"

Ino emits a little giggle, grinning at the petite woman in front of her. "It _is_ Saturday, Forehead-chan!" she says loudly, giving her a playful (painful) punch on the shoulder. Sakura glances at the calendar hanging on their mini-fridge and groans. It is, in fact, Saturday. This is not karmic backlash or the wrath of the gods. It is the ninth of December at approximately eight o'clock in the evening and her entire complex floor is crowded into her tiny two bedroom flat. She enters the living room along with the three and realizes that she had not being overexaggerating - every resident of the building that lives on the second floor is sitting in her currently overcrowded parlor. Her left eye twitches again.

She is going to _kill_ Ino. "Hey guys! This is Sakura!" the drunken blonde announces, throwing an arm around Sakura's waist. The group looks up, half of them wasted, the other half just completely uninterested in her presence.

"Hi, Sakura," they reply in drunken unison. Instead of returning to the table and resuming her dance, Ino chooses to plant herself on the lap of a brunet with red face markings. Sakura deduces that his name is Kiba from her previous conversations with Hinata, the sweet girl that lives across the hall from them. She sighs and travels to the table, gently setting aside a couple of red cups before laying down without any regard for making a good first impression.

The apartment warming party was not supposed to be this out of hand - Sakura had told Ino several times that she preferred a small, private affair with just herself, Ino, Chouji, and Shikamaru on a Saturday evening, maybe with a few beers and Chinese take-out. Sakura had even taken Ino's advice and invited Hinata, who she had met at the local coffeeshop-bookstore hybrid while looking for a new novel to read. That was all the people who she had been expecting this evening, a total of three, maybe four guests.

As the evening progresses, she discovers that Ino had invited Tenten, quite literally the girl next door, who she had become acquainted with when she was applying for a job in the fashion section of some trendy magazine. Tenten was applying there as well, but more for work in general, very unspecific. Tenten had brought along her roommates, Lee (who has taken an immediate liking to Sakura, much to her dismay) and Neji (who she finds out is related to Hinata).

Chouji was the one responsible for inviting Naruto, the strange boy she had met in the laundry room before rounds. Naruto had dragged along sex god diva and invited Kiba, who happened to be close friends with Hinata. Kiba decided to bring along his estranged roommate, Shino, that nobody, not even Naruto knows much about.

In short, the entire thing is a mess.

... such a mess that Sakura takes five shots of tequila and three shots of whiskey without a chaser for _strictly_ coping reasons, mind you.

She wakes up with a raging headache the morning and finds Kiba frantically searching for his boxers in the living room (no surprise there). Sakura wants to laugh, but is instead overcome by a wave of nausea. She runs to the toilet, annoyed when she sees that _somebody_ is already occupying it. That somebody is a certain stupid-faced blond boy who appears to have lost his shirt. He is accompanied by sex god diva, looking pristine as usual, despite having drank significantly more than either of them the night previous.

"Tell your idiot friend to quit hogging my toilet," she addresses sex god diva, or Sasuke, bitterly.

"Hey, idiot," he smirks, nudging said idiot with his foot, "Sakura wants her toilet back. Also, she thinks you're a stupid-faced freak that likes to pick up girls at the laundry room."

"O-Oh my God!" Sakura cries, attempting to cover her face with her hands. "Don't tell me that I actually _said_ that last night..."

Naruto looks up from the toilet bowl, taking a break from his heaving. He gives her a small smile. "Don't sweat it, Sakura-chan! It's not half as bad as what you told Lee last night after he declared his everlasting love for you!"

Sakura makes a kind of strangled noise, the kind an animal makes before it's about to be slaughtered, before diving into the empty bathtub. "I'm just going to stay here and pretend I don't exist," she informs them, pulling up her thighs to meet her chest. She then buries her head in her lap, mortified.

"If it makes you feel better," Sasuke consoles in a rare moment of sympathy, "I completely agree with your opinions."

Sakura lets out a dry sob before looking up at him and frowning. "Just leave me here to die," she says quietly before returning to fetal position.

The housewarming parties become weekly events, though they aren't so much wild parties now as they are casual dinners.

It takes Sakura three weeks to be acknowledged by Sasuke and Naruto as someone other than "the cute (or in Sasuke's words, annoying) girl from the laundry room" and two for her to know Kiba as someone other than Ino's latest hookup, but in the end, they are all fast friends.


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm Ino. I love Shikamaru. I hate Shikamaru. I love Shikamaru. I hate Shikamaru."

**"**I'm Sakura. I can't get a boyfriend so I'll stumble across the hall and sleep with the first guy I find there."

Chapter Two

Idealism

* * *

_August 23, 2006_

At first glance, Ino is your typical pretty girl, something that Sakura attributes to her platinum blonde hair and C-borderline-D cups. If you go deeper, you'll find that Ino is still a pretty girl. Even deeper and you'll find the same thing. There are only four people who know Ino, despite her frivolous, superficial attitude, is more than just a pretty girl. These people are Sakura, Chouji, her father, and Shikamaru.

It's not that Ino doesn't like being a pretty girl; on the contrary, she absolutely loves it. That's why she chooses to bask in it, let it sit and become part of her personality. It's just that if you subtract the flawlessly done makeup, brand name clothing, and ridiculously expensive designer purse, you get a little girl that still believes that Prince Charming will come and whisk her away on his white horse. The blonde hair and the boobs make it rather difficult for her to find him, despite what the movies advocate. They distract men and distort her idyllic picture of a happily ever after.

Most people would call her a hopeless romantic.

She just says that she has high standards; as a perfect ten, she will settle for nothing less, and this is the truth. Ino does not simply want to be serenaded and treated like a princess, nor does she want butterflies or romance. She _demands_ it. Ino is a firm believer that this is all a relationship _should_ be - romance, flattery, and gratification.

This is why she finds it strange as she looks across the table to Kiba. They are in a candlelit private Italian restaurant, old sonnets from the fifties humming in the background. The bouquet of roses he has given her sits quietly in her lap; this is her fifth date with him, and Ino surprisingly feels nothing.

Kiba is as close to Mr. Wonderful as any guy can get. He can be the sappy best friend you watch chick flicks with all night, the masculine but playful jock that carries you around when you're feeling tired, and the sensitive poetic guy that takes you out on quiet dates and goes on moonlit walks with you when he wants you to feel beautiful. Ino really wants to like him, love him, and fall in love with him, but she is only vaguely attracted to him. This will be their fifth and last date. He'll be disappointed and she knows this; she can't help but feel a bit sad that sweet Kiba probably won't be this nice to the next pretty girl he takes on a date.

Kiba thinks Ino is a pretty girl, but pretty girls are plastic, disposable.

She smiles as she tells him good night and thanks him for the good time in that pretty girl way, charming smile and batted eyelashes; this is the part of her that he has fallen in love with, the part that most boys long for. He's distracted by her.

Ino closes the door on him and makes her way to the kitchen, where a half-crumpled piece of paper is sitting. She reads the sloppy scrawl, lazily written by someone who couldn't bother to lift his pen. The note instructs her to head over to the opposite end of the corridor once she takes off her makeup, puts on clothes that actually cover her, and therefore makes herself decent. She smiles tiredly. Ino washes off the perfectly done makeup when she showers before changing into a tanktop and old flannels. She ties her hair back into a ponytail before trudging tiredly to 206, where she finds Shikamaru and Chouji watching a horror movie, eating copious amounts of gummies and over-buttered popcorn. They regard her quietly, not taking much attention off the screen.

Ino laughs as Chouji latches on to Shikamaru's right arm at a particularly loud noise, letting out a rather unladylike snort. She throws herself down onto the couch beside them, yawning. Shikamaru hands her a bag of chocolate-covered raisins, which she readily accepts. She sighs a bit before leaning her head on his shoulder, unsparingly shoving fists full of popcorn into her mouth, eyes glued to the television.

Shikamaru doesn't think Ino is a pretty girl; he thinks that she is a beautiful, albeit flawed, woman.

This is the part of her that Shikamaru has fallen in love with, but it takes her approximately two more years to figure it out.

* * *

_March 12, 2008_

When she's older, Ino likes to imagine that she will have a doting husband, and two children: a boy and a girl. They'll live in the suburbs of Konoha and go to one of those private, prestigous secondary schools. She'll drive them to their soccer games before her international flights to business meetings halfway across the globe. Her husband and children will frequently Skype with her while she's away making big deals, doing big business. But for now, Ino chooses to chase after her other, slightly more realistic dream: being a fashion designer. She takes the back seat, doing free lance jobs in the fashion sections of obscure magazines, opening up her own online boutique. If Yamanaka Ino is anything, she is driven.

Sakura was always meant to be a doctor - she likes to help people, fix things, and ease the pain - but Ino had always found herself thinking, dreaming. She was meant to be more, greater and grander than anything medicine can offer. Ino is destined for greatness and she works hard in order to realize her fate. The living room is her workshop, the place where she slaves at a machine trying to create her latest (trendy) masterpieces for her website. She spends half her time analyzing fashion trends and catering to consumer needs and the other half writing sugary, motivational fashion articles for frugal teenage divas. Some days, Ino looks back on her life and laments its lack of organization; but she knows, truly, that in the end, her effort will pay off. Her dream is in its starting stages and it needs support and nourishment if it wants to survive. It requires all of her dedication - no distractions, no nonsense.

But Ino is pregnant, and pregnancy doesn't exactly fit into the picture when she's trying to piggyback her little business to glory. She's waiting in Sakura's apartment with Naruto and Sasuke to tell her the news when she loses consciousness.

When she wakes up, Sakura is by her side, because Sakura is _always_ by her side, sloppily put together and waiting. "You're up," Sakura finally croaks after a while before inhaling deeply. Sakura tells her that it was an ectopic pregnancy, that she shouldn't feel guilty because it started out that way, and that during the surgery, Sakura - the on-call resident at the time - was the one that had to perform the salpingectomy. She also tells Ino that she must stay in the hospital an additional day. Ino is nervous because she'using intimidating medical terms, which leads her to the conclusion that her best friend is beating around the bush.

"Will I be able to have children?" the blonde asks suddenly, cutting Sakura off.

Sakura stares at her for a while before replying. "Your left Fallopian tube was removed," she manages. "Though the possibility of implantation is significantly lower, you are still a viable woman." Silence lingers in the room as Ino anticipates the rest of Sakura's reply. She expects questions, so many questions; who was it? Why didn't you tell me earlier? What were you planning to do? Instead, Sakura smiles at her warmly, the kind of smile that Sakura has used to make countless boys fall in love with her. "You'll still get it," she states.

"Get what?"

"The two kids, a boy and a girl," her best friend begins slowly, and Ino laughs. She laughs until she's sobbing hysterically. She barely registers when Sakura leans over and encompasses her in a hug. "Never do that again," she says wearily. "My hand shook during surgery - and my hands _never _shake. I made half of my interns and an OR nurse cry today!"

"Wow," is all Ino can say. She whistles awkwardly, patting Sakura's awfully matted hair. "Sorry for ruining your day off," Ino apologizes weakly.

Sakura snorts. "No big deal, you know I live here," she retorts. "Plus, we've got a bit of company." The woman jerks her back in order to gesture to the door. "You can come in now," she bellows. Their four boys file in one by one. Shikamaru and Chouji are quiet while Sakura stands up and they take her place on the bed. "No manhandling the goods, boys," Sakura says sternly. She turns on her left heel. "I'm heading home now, but I'll be back in time for dinner. Want take-out?"

Ino grimaces. "I am on a diet, Forehead," the blonde whines. Sakura rolls her eyes.

"Okay, yeah, I understand," the rosette replies. "Chicken stir-fry, light on the spice, extra broccoli and a side of the peanut sauce. Udon noodles, right?" Shikamaru smirks at this as Ino sighs in defeat.

"You're impossible," Ino moans, shaking her head in disbelief. "God, the patient care here _sucks_. You suck!"

"Love you too, sweets," Sakura says, flipping her hair for emphasis.

"Are you two done _flirting_ yet?" Sasuke jibes while Naruto snickers in the background. The man is tapping his foot impatiently, already halfway out the door. Admittedly, Ino would have thought he were attractive if he weren't such a diva.

Ino sticks her tongue out at him. "She was mine first, pretty boy," the patient taunts. She waves her right hand in a motion to usher them out of her room. "Run along now, peasants," Ino dictates, sticking her chin up. Sasuke makes a point to sneer at her as before he (finally) struts out of the room, Naruto and Sakura in his wake. Before exiting, Sakura pauses to wink and blow Ino a kiss, wolfishly. Ino catches the kiss with her hand and grins. "Don't keep me waiting too long, babe!"

"Wouldn't even dream of it," she replies silkily. "Oh, and-" Her best friend shoots a meaningful look at Shikamaru before returning to her patient.

"Sakura," the raven-haired man once again interjects. Sakura pouts as he grabs her by the wrist and pulls her out of the room. Ino shakes her derisively.

"Where do those two men think they're going with the love of my life?" she asks Shikamaru and Chouji, who are now staring at her intently. Shikamaru clicks his tongue and Chouji gulps.

"Sometimes I can't even tell if you're joking or not," Shikamaru says, leaning his elbow on her night table. "You two are both way too involved with one another." Chouji nods his head in agreement.

Ino painfully looks away from Shikamaru's calculating face and becomes increasingly aware of the protective hand she had placed upon her abdomen earlier. She loves her boys and the comfort they give her, the particular atmosphere of relaxation and nirvana that she can never quite achieve when she's with Sakura, but right now she would prefer her female friend's company. Right now, it hurts to be in their company because Ino is a very honest person and she's half-dying to tell him, to blurt it out right now.

Shikamaru doesn't know.

Shikamaru should know.

And it's killing her because she knows that he will find out.

* * *

_May 6, 2007_

Ino doesn't really like toddlers because they're messy, even more so than infants, and are evidently lacking a sense of hygiene and personal space. She does not enjoy little three year olds running up to her at the park with their muddy fingers clinging to the edge of her skirt, nor does she enjoy their not-so-discreet inappropriate comments (where do kids that age even _learn_ things like that?). Little kids are _so_ much more adorable before they learn how to articulate themselves.

However, Sarutobi Hana at age three is Ino's absolute favorite person. Ino dotes on her by frequently taking her out to her favorite bakery on weekends, constantly searching the toddlers' section in department stores to buy Hana dresses, and taking her to work when Kurenai is traveling. Hana refers to the blonde as "Ino-hime" and sometimes puts on fashion shows for her at a whim, strutting around in her new dress of the week. Hana doesn't talk too much around strangers, makes it a point to wash her hands properly before she touches someone or eats her dinner, and is basically what Ino likes to call "heaven sent." Despite being Ino's favorite, there is one person that said toddler adores more than her: Shikamaru.

She calls Shikamaru "Pops", apparently a way of saying "dad" but without the commitment. This breaks Ino's heart, as well as Shikamaru's, because although Hana is an angel, she doesn't have a father. Asuma's premature death is a topic they rarely mention but are constantly reminded of. They all struggle under the burden of loss, but are determined to be strong - if not for themselves, then at least for Hana. Kurenai endures, so Shikamaru and Ino and Chouji endure - and above all else, Hana is loved.

On a particularly sunny Saturday, Ino pulls Shikamaru by the ear to get him to go with her and Hana to the nearby park. Hana skips eagerly next to Ino, swinging her right arm wildly, causing Ino's left to do the same. Hana's other hand is firmly locked on to a small net with a wooden frame. Today, they are going butterfly catching - or "hunting", as Hana likes to refer to it. The dark-haired girl sings nursery rhymes as they walk, prompting Shikamaru and Ino to join in whenever she forgets the words.

When the trio arrives at the park, Hana instantly takes to the grassy, open meadows with her net.

"Hana-chan!" Ino calls after her. The girl looks briefly at her before returning to her business. "We'll be right over here!" The blonde gestures to the nearest park bench. "Don't wander past that big oak tree!"

"Yes, Ino-hime!" Hana sings, hot on the trail of her latest catch. Ino sighs exasperatedly before walking over and planting herself on the bench next to Shikamaru. The two bask in silence for a while, the latter lazily leaning back in his seat. He stretches his arms back casually and directs his attention to the heavens. Ino knows what he's doing - cloud watching. It's an activity that he and Chouji would do all the time in high school whenever they didn't feel like going to class. The two would go to the parking lot and sprawl themselves on the roof of Sakura's gas-guzzling pre-owned SUV with two sodas and a bag of chips and sit for the whole period, watching. It's a quaint habit that neither Ino nor Sakura have ever been fond of, but today Ino attempts to indulge in it.

"That one looks like a mermaid," Ino says, jabbing her finger in the direction of a long, wispy cloud.

Shikamaru snorts. "Don't look for shapes," he says. "Take them for what they are. Just clouds drifting." The blonde blinks before rolling her eyes at him. She huffs to blow her bangs out of her face.

"You're the worst, Shikamaru," she admonishes. "So devoid of imagination that you can't even see different shapes in the clouds!"

Shikamaru closes his eyes for a bit. "Things come as they are," he replies after a while. "Don't try to rearrange them to suit your own reality."

* * *

_April 12, 2008_

When work sweeps Ino away and brings her to Suna for its annual fashion show, the blonde girl finds herself entranced by the city - its culture, its people, and its fashion. She has never been so enthralled by a place and finds herself alone at night, wandering its streets with a different kind of uncertainty. There are looming shadows in the background as she makes her way to her rented flat, so she nervously quickens her pace. The rapid clicking of her pumps on the pavement echoes throughout the empty street as Ino enters the complex, hurrying up its wooden stairs.

She opens her laptop and to see that she has missed five calls from Haruno Sakura. Twenty minutes later, a ringing sound informs her that Sakura is calling her again. Ino notes her current state of undress before shrugging - Sakura would likely disregard this fact in place of her actually picking up. She answers the call only in her underwear, hair still wet from showering. "What the hell took you so long to pick up?" Sakura's voice demands. Noticing Ino's apparently lack of clothing, she grimaces. "Nevermind. Put a shirt on, will you?"

"You know you like it!" Ino smirks at her computer screen before scampering off to change. She returns with a lit, overstuffed cigar, scantily clad in a tanktop that is two sizes too large. The straps persistently slip off her skinny shoulders as she brings the cigar to her lips. The blonde blows smoke rings for the camera, being careful not to get ash on the pristine white sheets.

Her friend glares at her through the computer. "You better bring some back, Ino," she orders, delicate features illuminated by the light of her screen. "Doctor's orders."

The blonde snorts derisively, shaking her head. "I thought you quit," she says. Ino hears shuffling in the background of Sakura's apartment and checks the time on her laptop. "Isn't it like, three over there? Why aren't you guys asleep?"

"I got off of work an hour ago and Naruto's in a stage where he can only write after two in the morning and before five," Sakura drawls before readjusting herself on the couch."And Sasuke-kun is himself, pretty much. How's Suna?"

Ino smiles brightly. "It's fucking fantastic!" she exclaims. She takes a drag of her cigar and exhales slowly. "The guys are hot, I live literally three blocks away from the boardwalk, and the shopping district is endless, I swear." The blonde appears to contemplate something before continuing, "We should come here for our honeymoon."

Sakura rolls her eyes. "Doesn't that constitute marriage, Ino?" The woman pouts, crossing her arms. "You didn't even buy me dinner!"

"Sakura-chan," Ino retorts, placing an emphasis on the suffix, "you were there when I lost my virginity. I think that _you _owe _me_ more than a dinner, thank you very much."

The pinkette giggles, something that she hasn't done since high school. "Hey, hey!" she whines. "Not so loud!" Sakura dramatically looks to her left and her right before facing the screen again. "They might hear you," she whispers, eyes widening. "But anyway," Sakura continues, "how was I supposed to know that you were going to have sex with the guy? Excuse me for having faith in your abstinence!"

"Right," the blonde says sarcastically. "What else were we going to do in his room alone under the influence of alcohol?"

"As much I would like to reiterate your sexual endeavors pre-devirginization," her best friend replies smoothly, "I doubt that you yourself would like to be reminded of them, Yamanaka-san. For all I know, you could have been playing board games with him during that twenty minutes."

"Sakura!" Ino cries. "We do not talk about that? Okay? Okay. Understood. And it was _so_ longer than twenty minutes, you supercilious bitch!" Sakura snickers in response. "Fine, fine. At least he lasted longer than yours! How long was it again, ten minutes?"

"Well, we were together for a long time and we were both virgins-"

"Sakura," Ino interrupts, "you ran into my dorm crying fifteen minutes after, asking why you always did this to yourself. The guy couldn't even get you off with a-"

"Hey Ino, remember the time where you hooked up with that really hot redhead at some frat party and she refused to give you back your thong because she wanted to add it to her shrine of you?" At this point, Naruto's obnoxious laughter indicates to Ino and Sakura that Sakura's two roommates have, in fact, been eavesdropping. "Sorry about that," she apologizes lamely.

"Whatever," the blonde replies nonchalantly. "I'm going to sleep soon, and I recommend that you do the same. You look like crap."

"I look better than you, _pig_," Sakura mocks, smugly smirking.

"That's not possible," Ino deadpans. "One, because I'm smoking a cigar, and two, because I actually know how to take care of myself. Keep talking though, babe." The blonde yawns, taking one final drag of the cigar before setting it on the ashtray. She stretches back before placing her computer next to her and settling her head on her pillow.

Simultaneously, Sakura responds. "You don't even know how to smoke one properly," she chastises, "I bet you lit up with a zippo!" Ino notices that she doesn't comment on the latter part of her statement.

"Hey, don't you have another shift in like, two hours?" the blonde asks quietly, softly. She watches as Sakura's facial expression changes from amused and irritated to sentimental. "Get some sleep, okay?"

"I just wanted to talk to you," Sakura says, dawning one of those secret smiles of hers. "Not that I miss you or anything, idiot." Her eyes betray her playful tone - Ino knows that Sakura is so, so tired, and not only from the hospital.

"I'll bring you along next time," Ino offers. "I'll tell the company that my lovesick wife can't bear to be away from me for more than a day."

Still smiling, Sakura thoughtfully leans her cheek against her left hand. "Sounds pretty accurate to me!"

Ino falls asleep to the sound of the woman's gentle laughter. The melody weaves its way into her dreams and makes her think of carefree summer nights with Sakura by her side, gazing and whispering to the stars.

Only Ino detects its new, bitter undertone: of regret, mostly, but also of unrequited love.

* * *

_August 1, 2008_

When Ino falls on hard times, she takes the car four years back and forty-five minutes away to the outskirts of the city to run her parents' flower shop. Well, not really _parents'_, more like her father's, but she figures that because the shop is her mother's legacy, it can be both of theirs, together. Apparently Ino's mother had a knack for making arrangements and had met Inoichi while he was purchasing a bouquet for another girl he was supposed to take out on a date the following week. In the end, he had left with her cellphone number and Ino's mother took home a small bouquet of carnations in exchange.

It was love at first sight; or at least, that's what people have told her. Inoichi never speaks much about his late wife, except to light a candle for her on her birthday every year. Sometimes he'll cook and tell Ino that it was her mother's favorite, but the conversation about her never delves much deeper than that.

People say that she looks like her mother, but when she sees her reflection in the mirror of the flower shop, she only sees herself. Sometimes she wonders what her father sees when he looks at her - his daughter or some lingering ghost of the past. Ino likes to think that it's the former, but her father's occasional nostalgic and forlorn gaze convinces her otherwise. Her father thinks of her as a replacement, and a just tiny part of him may resent Ino for taking the love of his life away; not that anything was ever Ino's fault, but she would understand where he's coming from if he did.

"I want to visit her," she tells her father as he begins to close up shop for the day. Business hasn't been too good lately and Ino personally blames her generation, which is so sex-driven that it seems to have abandoned all notions of romance. He's silent for a moment as he mulls over the request in his mind. He brings himself to his full height and nods at her, beckoning his daughter to follow.

When they arrive at her tombstone, he gives his daughter a yellow carnation.

"I was pregnant," she confesses, and her father doesn't budge. He's too busy staring at the name engraved on the slab of stone. "There were complications - I had to go into surgery," Ino continues quietly. Inoichi's focus remains on her mother's name, melancholy seeping in from all edges. The blonde woman sighs. "I survived." She places a timid hand on her father's right elbow. "I am here. I survived," she repeats, slowly.

Inoichi nods before throwing his arm over his daughter's shoulders. Bringing a calloused hand to push her bangs back, he smiles absently. "Of course you did," he replies knowingly. "You truly are your mother's daughter."

Ino drops the flimsy yellow carnation on the ground as she stands next to her father. She stares at her mother's name for a while before watching the flower float away with the breeze.

They are simply existing.


End file.
